


Tainted Blood in the Water

by VenomQuill



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Blood, Dawnguard, Gen, Moths, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 21:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17009391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: Ko'Junar and Serana have gathered the Elder Scrolls. Now, they must follow the advice of a blind moth priest in order to find a map to the most dangerous object in Tamriel.





	Tainted Blood in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> Find it on dA: [Tainted Blood in the Water](http://fav.me/dcuizww)

Dank, plant-scene air filtered in from the cave. As the two–khajiit and vampire–ventured inside, Ko’Junar could _taste_ the scent of much flora, but little to no fauna. Where were the animals? Then again, the place didn’t look _too_ impressive. It was dark and brown with mud and cliffs and stone. Man-made piles of stone rose up in intervals near natural stone columns. Straggly plant life rose from the ground and cast dapples light and shade from the light source of the sun outside the cave, and some light further in. As they stepped farther into the old, claustrophobic cave, the khajiit heard Serana speak at last.

“Humph. Not very impressive, is it?” Serana scoffed as her sickly yellow eyes looked over the place. “If this ends up being a wasted trip,” Serana continued as they walked, “–then your friend Dexion and are going to have a few words when we get back.”

 _“No, Dexion could be trusted. He is wise,”_ Ko’Junar thought as they passed under an old wooden log. Moss hung from it like a curtain and ivy draped like a scarf over its trunk. Ko’Junar wasted no time in plucking some of the moss and gently putting it away with the rest of her ingredients.

Unfortunately, the way they went was a dead end, so they back-tracked and climbed up a slope that hugged the left wall. The tree trunk ended up acting as a natural bridge to the other side of the cave, which led to something deeper where another light source–this one bright and cold–emanated.

As they crossed through the last bit of the entrance where Ko’Junar could feel her whiskers brush the tightly knit leaves and eventually the winding stone of the thin tunnel, they encountered the light. A grand cavern lush with plant life and incredibly warm compared to the snowy outside bathed them in light and heat and tranquility. Stone steps bothered by moss and the lush ferns and brush around them led down to the bottom, where a few geysers spat moisture and heat into the small place. A waterfall of silver light fell through a hole in the very top of the ceiling and sent light spilling onto a raised section of stone flanked by a pedestal with a stone arch atop it.

Moths, beautiful brown little things with speckled wings, fluttered peacefully in small packs, completely unafraid of the khajiit and vampire. Then again, Ko’Junar had no will to hunt them or even bat at them, for fear of bringing them harm. She felt no such way about other critters–bug or animal–so the odd thought distracted her.

“Wow,” Serana breathed. “Look at this place. No one’s been here in centuries. I doubt there’s any other place like this in Skyrim. It’s beautiful.”

“This one has no words…” Ko’Junar agreed as they trekked down the small, winding path. Multiple times they brushed past soft bushes and ferns and fell under the shadow of tall, green-leafed trees. Moths passed teasingly by them. When they approached the water, Ko’Junar felt herself tense. The familiar feeling of aquaphobia crept up on her like a stalking wolf until… until…

The wolf gave pause and then lay down. The feeling of fear, even toward shallow, warm water, was gone. In the back of her mind, some part of her was probably terrified, but the tranquility this place provided eased her out of such a panic. So, her golden boots stepped carefully through the warm water and the wet stone as they made it to the circle of light and the alter beside it. An object was suspected in the square of stone on the alter. Carefully detailed ivory handles with a length of thin, sharp, curved metal between them floated. Ko’Junar carefully took the artifact. As soon as her fingers coiled around the handles, the knife was free.

“Well, we got the knife. Now all we have to do is track down one of those Cantical trees,” Serana stated, again looking over the glade.

“Ko’Junar knows that is easy,” the khajiit purred as she looked over at a twisted, thick-trunked tree nearby. Beautiful pink flowers bloomed over its branches like a work of art. Carefully, she approached it. Keeping Dexion’s words of caution in mind, Ko’Junar cut through the bark and, making sure to cut only the bark and not the flesh of the tree, dragged the knife down until a strip of bark was cut loose. Ko’Junar put away the knife and held the bark in her fingers. Surprisingly, it did not crumble in her grasp. Despite being soft and flexible, she felt a strength in it.

“Hope the moths like that bark as much as Dexion said they would,” Serana said as soon as she saw the bark defect from the tree.

Ko’Junar nodded and, wielding the bark, approached a small swarm of moths. Immediately, the speckle-winged things took interest and fluttered around her as if she was a flame that beaconed them. She gasped, taken aback by how suddenly they trusted her. No creature–not even Cloudmane, her trusted horse–ever trusted her so quickly.

“Look at them… they’ve certainly taken a liking to you!” Serana’s voice became cheerful, but suddenly turned curious. “And, unless I’m seeing things… you’re starting to glimmer.”

Ko’Junar looked back at her, and then at herself. Indeed, the faintest sparkle of light glimmered around her body like pretty, sparkly dust. As they walked, Serana behind at a short distance to watch the phenomenon, Ko’Junar prompted, “Have you ever seen anything like this?”

“I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere else in Skyrim, I can say that. From now or… before.” Serana’s tone took an uncomfortable turn, like any other time she mentioned her imprisonment in the tomb or her family. A pang of sadness went through Ko’Junar’s heart. Perhaps it was her own history, perhaps it was her projecting, or perhaps it was her naturally empathetic heart, but ever since Serana first spoke ill or fear of her family, Ko’Junar had done everything she could to propose ways to mend them, make them happy. Ko’Junar bore the hideous wounds of betrayal, mostly in her broken heart, mostly in her ravaged mind, but also through the triplet scars that crossed her dark muzzle. Although claiming they were from a she-wolf with her cubs, wolf claws did not have the same sharp hooks of a khajiit’s.

Serana went on in a cleared voice, “There are probably groves like this all over Tamriel. Most people just don’t even know what to look for.”

Ko’Junar passed through another swarm, causing the extremely faint glimmer to strengthen and the moths already around her to become more excited. Now was not the time to grieve the past; now was the time to make the future one none could grieve.

They traveled through the glade, finding more and more moths until finally, a sense of completion fell over her and the glowing, sparkling, swirling mist around her was obvious. She even crossed through a bubbling stream without a care to her previous misgivings about water. In fact, they paused at the top of another set of steps. Between two large pieces of stone was another entrance to a thin cave, but wooden cage bars prevented them from moving through it. Although curiosity urged her to find out what was behind it, the need to complete their mission made her step away.

“Whoa!” Serana gasped. “I think that might have been what we’re waiting for.”

Ko’Junar looked around at the fluttering moths and the beautiful glow, amused and curious. The khajiit watched the fluttering creatures for a few moments before Serana went on, “Let’s back up there and see if we can read the scrolls.”

Ko’Junar nodded and strode into the waterfall of moonlight. She watched the moths flutter around her, growing more excited as they sensed the scrolls and what would soon be happening. She took a deep breath and pulled out the elegant, golden scroll. Gemstones glimmered at it’s handles. It wasn’t even open and Ko’Junar could feel its power. The sudden image of Dexion, blind with his eyes bound, sparked in her head. What if she grew blind? Her senses were sharp. She could hear and smell and sense, but without her sight she could use her favored weapon: the bow. She was terrible in hand-to-hand combat. What if she was forced to retire from her journeys? Her journeys were what made her what she is! What purpose would she serve without them?

No. No, this was important. If they were to find the end of the prophecy and prevent its completion, she was to put away her anxiety. She was prepared for the worst, whether it be blindness or something even more haunting and indescribable by the Moth Priest. Tamriel could lose a khajiit adventurer, but it could not lose the sun.

Ko’Junar opened the scroll.

Inscription, beautiful indescribable, indecipherable patterns scrawled over the page in a circular pattern. Even when she put the scroll away and the second found its way into her grasp, the runes were imprinted in her mind. When she opened the second to gaze upon its contents, she found her world slipping farther away, her vision growing darker, the runes glowing brighter, cracks sprawling through her eyesight like broken ice. The third scroll she opened took away the world completely–her sight, her hearing, her scent, and the feeling of warm air against her soft fur. More cracks spread father across her sight and grew brighter until they were a map, a vague map that, under the circumstance of chancing upon it on her travels, would be confusing and worthless. But the meaning rang clear and spoke to her, though no words were uttered.

Finally, as she memorized what she saw before her and heard whispering in her ears, her vision went white. Ko’Junar blinking the stars out her eyes and shook her head. For a wild moment, nothing appeared in her sight and her other senses were sluggish to come back. But finally, they did and she calmed as the world came into focus and the feeling of tranquility came returned. The moths dispersed and the glow around her was gone.

“Are you okay?” Serana’s words broke her out of the spell she’d put herself under. “Almost thought I lost you there… you went white as the snow.” Fear crept into the woman’s voice, then.

Ko’Junar turned to face her, shaking herself again for good measure. “Do not worry, Ko’Junar feels fine!” She chuckled to herself, hoping her optimism hid the shakiness she still felt.

“I never trusted those damn scrolls.” A bitterness fell over the vampire. “Who knows what those things could have done to you… just look at Dexion.” A long-gone feeling of gratitude and warmth warmed her heart. Someone had been concerned for her safety. More than that, it was her new friend, the one whom she’d trusted without question despite what others had thought. Despite what her own mind had thought. “What about Ariel’s Bow? Do you know where we can find it?” she asked suddenly.

The image of the map was burned into her mind as if she was still looking at it. Ko’Junar nodded. “It’s in a place called Darkfall Cave.”

“Then it’s almost over. We can finally put an end to this ridiculous prophecy,” Serana sighed, her smile returning. Ko’Junar purred in agreement. The sooner that prophecy was slain and forgotten, the better. “Where is this _‘Darkfall Cave?’_ ”

“The scrolls gave this one it’s place,” Ko’Junar answered, her tail starting to twitch nervously. Although the thought of the prophecy’s end comforted her, the knowledge of their inevitable expedition into a place of trials and tribulation and most likely quite a bit of danger, if she was to guess due to her prior experience, was the opposite of calming.

“Then let’s get going. I want to get there before my father has a chance to track us down.”

Just as Ko’Junar started to prompt Serana on _her_ knowledge of the bow–which, even if it was only it’s color, the knowledge would be more than Ko’Junar’s–her fur bristled, and her ears pricked. Paw steps, swift and clumsy and loud, struck the stone and hit the dirt. Footsteps, quieter but just as swift and uncaring of their environment, mixed with them.

Ko’Junar pulled out her bow and hid behind one of the pillars, fear and rage burning in her heart. How dare these intruders stomp their stinking feet on this sacred, pure place?

Serana tensed and slipped into a wizard’s fighting stance. Creatures–stony-skinned, winged beasts and bandits with sundered minds approached. Ko’Junar hissed and notched an arrow. As they fought–summoning both the powers of ice and arrow–something began to nag at her. Like a tick caught in her fur, something bothered her.

Another thrall fell uselessly to the ground, perverting the ground below with his blood. The gargoyle still facing Serana shrieked his fury. But with no thrall allies, he was utterly alone against the two mortals and the storm atronact that Ko’Junar summoned through a scroll. The storm atronact had died by the gargoyle’s claws, but not without taking a toll on the creature. Now it, too, was gone. It lay dead at their feet, its snarl glared up with empty eyes. It was then that the realization that the two hadn’t seen any vampires dawned on them. Thralls followed vampires like loyal hounds. Surely, they wouldn’t have come alone.

Ko’Junar slipped into a crouch and quietly made her way up the stairs. Serana, ever cautious, stayed some ways back. Although stealthy herself, no one compared to a khajiit’s natural step and Ko’Junar’s own instinctual silence.

As she reached the cave, muttering reached her ears. Ko’Junar put down a growl. The vampires threw bodies at them so that they didn’t get their own hands dirty? Around the bend, two vampires of significant age and power stood. Ko’Junar put away her bow and drew her knives. A screech came from the first as Ko’Junar’s knives slid into his back and shoulder. The khajiit danced back as the man whipped around, his own sword bared. The khajiit let out a hiss and fled, allowing the vampires to give chase.

Just as the two raced around the bend in the staircase, crying their victory, an ice spear as long as Ko’Junar cut through the bloody vampire’s abdomen. An arrow pierced his neck. The battle had continued.

Although the man they’d stabbed and shot turned invisible and attempted to flee, Ko’Junar was not tricked. Her hearing and the sight of his footsteps in the water aided her aim. He fell to the ground, lifeless and visible once more.

The second vampire proved to be more difficult. As Ko’Junar approached, putting away her bow and baring her shield and ax, the female whipped around to face her. She took the khajiit by surprise as she whacked away her shield, nearly exposing her chest and neck. A short swing of an ax and a hop back kept the vampire’s dagger away from her neck. Their dance continued for some time with Ko’Junar landing blow after blow and the vampire occasionally getting her own swing in. But with the aid of the Serana’s magic and Ko’Junar’s own determination, the vampire attempted to flee. This time, Ko’Junar stopped to cast a healing spell on herself while Serana hunted her down and ended her struggling.

“Cowards,” Ko’Junar puffed as she sheathed her ax. “Throwing their _pets_ and hiding in the cave. They were no match for Ko’Junar and Serana, though.” The khajiit puffed out her chest proudly as they made their way back to the entrance of the cave.

“We showed them,” Serana agreed.

“So, khajiit wonders… what do you know of Ariel’s Bow?”

“Not much,” Serana admitted. “If you read any history, it shows up from time to time, but it’s a hard thing to track. As far as I know, though, it has never been held by a vampire. That would be a new one.”

“What does it have to do with the sun?” Ko’Junar tipped her head, ears flicked forward to catch even the tiniest shift in mood in Serana’s words.

“Ariel is one of the elven gods. He’s with the rest of them in Aetherius,” she explained in a matter-of-fact tone. “The way I’ve heard it, the sun connects our world to theirs. Supposedly, the bow draws its energy from the sun itself, which is why it shows up in that prophecy.”

“What exactly does it do?”

She shrugged. “That part I don’t know. Once we have it, hopefully it’ll become obvious.”

“Yes. Khajiit hopes the same.” She flicked her ear, thoughts of anger turning to nervousness. Her fur prickled as if ants were crawling through her fur. She knew that feeling; it had happened before.

This bow… well, she was a master at archery. She could shoot down any creature from many, many yards away. She could even shoot down invisible people or skeletons on the run whose bodies were too thin to hit in many places. Quite a few times she slew ones too far away for her to see. But perhaps this bow was not like a normal bow. Just like an Elder Scroll was no normal scroll, perhaps this bow was no normal bow. After all, it was crafted after a god in mind–or crafted by a god? That part was unclear. Perhaps it was unwieldable. Or perhaps it was too strong for her to wield, just as the Elder Scroll was too powerful for one to read without the moths or training.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo, more Ko'Junar! I kinda like this gal.


End file.
